Fake currency gangs have genuine visas

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: Investigations into fake currency rackets have revealed that every month, halfa-dozen groups of people leave Bangladesh for India on a month’s tourist visa to circulate counterfeit Indian currency.

“To evade suspicion from any quarter, the group usually includes a couple and all pose as members of the same family. These people travel on genuine visas and their other documents are also genuine. As a result, often they cannot be questioned thoroughly,’’ said a police officer from the I-branch unit of the Special Branch department. The prime task of the I-branch is to collect information on Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Afghan nationals.

On September 11. four persons—Annu Shaikh (25), her husband Sahebali Shaikh (32), Gulam Ali (40) and Iqbal Rehman (33)—were arrested on September 11 following which they have been remanded in police custody till September 19.

“Even that group was travelling as a family and had come to India on a tourist visa. When they were caught they said they had come to Mumbai for sight-seeing. However, after a search, we recovered fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 1.29 lakh from them,’’ said senior inspector Prakash Singh Boparai of the Dongri police.

According to the police, earlier, illegal migrants would be given the job of circulating counterfeit notes. However, after their frequent arrests, the gangs changed the modus operandi and began sending Bangladeshis on legal visas. While the I-branch records state that there are somewhere around 100 illegal migrants from Bangladesh in the city, the unofficial figure is in thousands. Instead of picking them up and deporting them to their country, the police take ‘haftas’ from them regularly “for not sending them back’’.

The police said the gang members first circulate fake notes in the market and then deposit the genuine ones in an Indian bank. Later that money is withdrawn through ATM card at the Indo-Bangla boarder. “In the latest case, the four persons arrested were promised a commission of 20 per cent for circulating fake currency. In addition to that, they were also provided with travelling and accommodation expenses by their mentors,’’ said an officer.

The police is now busy matching the notes with other notes seized from several other groups arrested. They suspect that they have already circulated counterfeit notes with a face value of Rs 2 to 3 lakh in the market.

The Times of India, September 17, 2007